Tissue dispenser



July '22, 1952 H. w. PATTERSON TISSUE DISPENSER 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 Filed Feb. 16, 1949 INVENTOR. HERMAN W. PATTERSON FIG. 2

y 22, 1952 H. w. PATTERSON 2,604,205

TISSUE DISPENSER Filed Feb. 16, 1949 2 Sl-IEETSSl-IEET 2 INVENTOR.

HERMAN W. PATTERSON ATTo NEY Patented July 22, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TISSUE DISPENSER Herman W. Patterson, Overland Park, Kans. Application February 16, 1949, Serial No. 76,837

' Claims.

his application is a replacement of abandoned application Serial .No. 666,324, filed May 1, 1946, for Tissue Dispenser.

My invention pertains to tissue dispensing containers and more specifically to means for assuring that the individual sheets of tissue can be readily withdrawn one at a time from the container.

I have found that it is much harder to provide a dispenser for high-grade facial tissue than it is for toilet tissue. This is due to several factors. one of which is that facial tissue is very soft and folds or rolls very easily, and another is that the frictional forces between two successive interfolded sheets of facial tissue are much greater than between two successive interfolded sheets of toilet tissue. The higher frictional forces between twosheets of tissue (which are due to the very soft yet somewhat rough surface. of the facial tissue) when combined with the greater tendency to roll lead to poor discharge from a container. As'one sheet is withdrawn from a slot in the container the next sheet should be pulled into position for discharge. However, if the next sheet rollsits edge will not be'positioned in the container discharge slot from whence it canv be pulled.

It is, therefore, an object of my invention to provide a container for discharging successive sheets of soft, easily folded tissue.

Another object of my invention is: toprovide a new and novel hinge structure for a container which is to be carried in a pocket or purse.

A further object of my invention is to provide a spring device which exerts less pressure against the contents of a container when'the container is completely full than when his partially empty. It is also an object of my invention to provide a paper dispenser which is to be carried in a pocket or purse.

Other objects and a fuller understanding of my invention may be had by referring to the specification and claims when read in conjunction with the drawings wherein:

Fig. l is an isometric view of my pocket tissue container in its open and unloaded, condition;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 2-2 of Fig. 1

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the container after it has been loaded with tissue and closed;

Fig.5 is an isometric view of the spring device in an inverted position; and v i Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view of a modified form of my invention.

With reference to Fig. 1, my container com- .a top portion I l by means of the hinges [2. The

lower portion I6 is formed somewhat like a shallow rectangular dish whose front edge l3 and side edges l4 and'l5extend up higher from the base than the back edge I6. The side edges l4 and I5 have smooth inside face surfaces and are much thinner at the top edge than at the bottom, thereby providing a ledge or shoulder l'l which extends the full length of the side and around the corners at the front and back. The edge I! does not extend across the front face of the container as it is desirable that it be smooth because as the tissuesvare withdrawn from within the container they slide down. over the surface [3 and any interruption thereinwould be apt to hinder the easy withdrawal of the tissue. The portions ll of the shoulder I! which arepositioned on the front face I3 serve as guides for the edges of the tissue sheets as they are withdrawn from the container. p

The back edge I6 of thelower part of the case is relatively thick and has two notched-out places 20 wherein the hinge arms 12 are held-by pins 22 which are driven into the back edge l6 of the base 10. The top H of the container isconnected to or is integralwiththe hinge arms l2, and as it is swung down into its closed position the edges 25 rest on the shoulders'l'l forming a smooth outside surface. The front downwardly turned edge 26 is positioned .over the upwardly turned front edge I3 and is spaced from it sufliciently that a'sheet of tissue can readily be withdrawn between the two from' the interior of thecontainer. The spacing between the upper and lower edges 26 and I3 may readily be seen in Fig. 4, and the smooth configuration of both the inside and outside surfaces of the hinge may alsobe seen in Fig. 4. y s

"-The inside surface of the top H includes a plurality of downwardly extending ridges 30 positioned near the 'edge I3 of the container from which the tissue is dispensed. Theseridges 36 may be formed independently of the container and connected to it by cement or the likegbut as I prefer to form the container of plastic material" it is easier and better to 'formthe ridges integral with the top H thereof.* The purpose of the ridges will be'described later.

Within the bottom portion 10 of the container there is positioned atop plate 3| oneedge of which extends under a hook 32 on abottom plate 33, and between the top plate 31 and the bottom plate 33 there is a spring'34 which tends to urge the top plate 3| upwardly against the hook 32. So long as the edge of'the plate 3'! stays under the hook 32 the plate 3| Will -not F -b? t.

rise, but when the plate is pulled from underneath the hook the spring 34 urges it upwardly. For more details of the spring device reference may be had to my copending application Serial No. 640,248 now abandoned. The top surface of the plate 3| is roughened, such as by sandblasting or by connecting a layer of fine sandpaper or the like to it, as'is indicated by the reference character 31.

The container is adapted to be filled with a package of sheets of tissues 39 the ends 4| of the individual sheets of which are interfolded whereby as one sheet is withdrawn from the slot 42 between the bottom and'top portions of the container the end 4| of the next sheet is positioned in the slot 42 with sufficient length extending outside whereby a person can grasp it and pulled to cause the next successive sheet to come out, as is well known in the art of paper dispensing.

I. have found that the spring device which is claimed in my application Serial No. 640,248

The ribs 30 are to assure that as a sheet of tissue is withdrawn from the container the end 4| of the sheet next underneath it does not roll up but is pulled into position in the slot 42. Due to the very soft texture of the tissue and due to the high coefiicient of friction between two successive sheets it is much more apt to roll the folded end 4| than toilet tissue. I have found that, with a spring device pushing the tissue up against the spaced ribs 30 the tissue will not roll up. This is due to the fact that the ribs 4| kink the tissue slightly to form slightly conis very valuable in urging the sheets of tissue upwardly toward the entrance to the dispensing slot '42, thereby to prevent the end 4| of the tissue sheet which is extending out of the container from falling back in as the container is emptied. In my copending application I describe in detail the construction and operation of the spring 34 whereby it exerts less pressure tending to push a new full package of'tissue against the 'top of the container than it does when a number of tissues have been removed. A person using the dispenser may wish to open it to determine how soon a new package of paper willbe needed. I have found upon reclosing the container that there may be a tendency for the 'ftopsheets of paper to be shoved forward.

order that this action not interfere with the operation I provide a hook 32 under which the plate 3| may be positioned, thereby relieving the 'spring pressure forcing the paper up against the 4 top and obviating the objectionable forward creepf, Withdrawing a sheet of tissue from the container after it has been reclosed will cause the plate 3| to slide out from underneath the hook 32, thereby restoring the gentle spring outlet slot.

The hook 32 may be used when a new package of tissue is inserted in the dispenser although,

as .I have mentioned in application Serial No.

640,248, the spring device is so designed that the weight of a full package of tissue will keep the plate3| down. However, if the hook 32 is used when refilling the dispenser the removal of a number of the sheets of tissue will cause the pack to loosen up until the plate 3| slides forwardly due to a pull on a sheet of tissue, the

of the bottom plate 33 it is to be understood that,

as is shown in Fig. 3 of Serial No. 640,248, a bottom plate is not essential and that if it is omitted the edge of the plate 34 can extend underneath a projection 45 molded integral with the bottom portion |0 of the case and extending outwardly from one of its walls as is shown in pressure which urges the tissues toward the.

cave dishes in the portion 4| of the tissue, and this dishing prevents rolling. Thus, the spring device and the ribs cooperate to assure a reliable discharge of all of the sheets of tissue within the container.

The direction of extension of the ribs 30 with respect to the length extension of the slot from which thetissue is withdrawn is of great importance in producing a pocket dispenser which will dispense one sheet of tissue at a time and which will pull the next sheet into position to be dispensed.

I have found that facial tissue is extremely hard to dispense from a tightly packed container compared to hand towels and toilet paper. This is probably because the facial tissue hasvery little rigidity to it compared to paper towels and even compared to toilet paper which is dispensed a sheet at a time. Also, facial tissue has a high coefficient of frictional resistance when positioned next to another sheet offacial tissue, much higher than toilet tissue which is individually dispensed in single sheets. This combination of low rigidity and high frictional resistance causes the subsequent sheet of facial tissue to' roll as the first sheet is withdrawn. The ribs30 which extend in a direction substantially perpendicular to the length dimension of the dispensing slot 42 dish the stack of tissue thereby artificially supplying the rigidity which a good quality facial tissue lacks and prevents the second sheet of tissue from rolling under" to a position where it cannot be pulled from the dispenser.

I While I have described my invention with a certain degree of particularity, it is to be understood that it has been only by way of example and that changes can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention as defined by the claims.

I claim asmy invention:

l. In combination, a package of interfolded sheets of soft facial tissue, a container around said package having an outlet slot along one edge of a major face thereof, rib means on the inside surface of the said major face of said container and extending in a direction substantially perpendicular to the said slot, said rib means being positioned near said outlet slot and projecting into the space within said container whereby when said container is filled with interfolded sheets of facial tissue the said rib means presses into the top sheets thereof to groove said package and prevent the rolling of the second sheet as said first sheet is withdrawn from said outlet slot, a plate within said container on the other side of said package from said'rib means. and spring means located between said container and said plate biasing said plate toward said package and biasing the package against said rib means to maintain the top sheets infthe grooved condition as successive sheets are withdrawn from said slot. v

2. A dispenser of interfolded sheets of soft'facial tissue comprising, a container having an outlet slot located; along one edge of one of its two major faces, a plate within said container, a spring biasing said plate toward said outlet slot, and holding means comprising hook means mounted to the bottom inside surface of said container at a locationon the other side of said container from said outlet slot, said hook means loosely holding one end only of said plate against the bias of said spring, said hook means permitting said platefto slip out therefrom after a few sheets of said tissue have been dispensed whereby said plate is thereafter substantially uniformly biased against the remaining tissue.

3. The invention as set forth in claim 2 further characterized in that said hook underneath;

which onjeiedge of said plate is positioned is 10- cated onithe surface of the major inside face of said container which is spaced opposite the outlet.

slot. $1

V r 2O 4. The invention as set forth in claim 2 turther characterized in this: that said holding.

6 means is a hook underneath which one edge of said plate ispositioned and that the dimension of said plate in one direction is smaller than the dimension of said container in said direction whereby as tissue is withdrawn the said plate slides out from underneath said hook and the a said spring pushes the plate against the tissue therein.

5. The invention asset forth in claim 2, further characterized in this: that the surface of said plate which is adapted to be in contact with said tissue is rough.

HERMAN W. PATTERSON.

REFERE ES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Cook Nov. 14. 1933 Number 

